Hotel rooms empty for five years have lost £736,425

The report has been cited by Sackville Estates in support of an application due to go before Rother planning committee on Thursday morning.

The applicants seek to convert 11 redundant hotel rooms at The Sackville into nine self-contained one-bedroomed flats.

The rest of the former Sackville Hotel, once the town's premier hotel, was converted into flats years ago, leaving only the west wing as hotel accommodation.

But Sackville Estates say the rooms are without reception or catering facilities and have been vacant for the past five years.

Sackville Estates have submitted a financial projection based on letting the nine two-person units as self-catering apartments showing that by being vacant for the past five years they have incurred a "negative cash flow" of 736,425 in five years.

The 1066 Accommodation Report is in marked contrast to the controversy over the abortive scheme by regeneration agency Seaspace which sought against local opposition to develop the Metropole putting green site on the seafront as a hotel.

Rother officers advise planning committee members: "The main issue in this case is the potential loss of good quality visitor accommodation and the impact this would have on the local economy."

They cite the Rother District Local Plan, which says: "Visitors staying in the area bring important benefits for the local economy. Therefore the loss of existing tourist accommodation to other uses will be resisted unless it is of unacceptably poor quality or where a genuine lack of demand for the accommodation is also demonstrated..."

Officers are recommending that the application be deferred while the head of regeneration examines what demand exists for self-catering accommodation on the site.

Members had been previously advised that officers believe that unless it is clearly demonstrated that there is no longer a demand for any tourist accommodation, either fully-serviced or self-contained, in this prime location close to the seafront, the application should not be supported.

Members are due on Wednesday to make an inspection of the vacant wing.